LILLE & PARIS, FRANCE – February 25, 2020 – Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, and Francesco Capurro, Head of the Forum, today unveiled key aspects of the program and the main speakers for this year’s Series Mania Forum, set for March 25-27 at Lille Grand Palais. Details for the Lille Dialogues, the one-day summit set for March 26, will be unveiled later this week.
“With 3000 participants set to attend this year, Series Mania Forum has truly become the place to be for all those involved in the creation of series from around the world.The Forum understands the dramatic changes in the industry at all stages of the value chain of series and focuses on writing, production and distribution issues,” said Herszberg.
Renowned screenwriters and creators will be at the Forum to share their experience, among them: Anna Winger (Deutschland 83, Unorthodox), Eric Rochant (The Bureau), Stefano Sardo (1994), Sara Johnsen (22 July), Jeppe Gjervig Gram (Follow The Money), as well as major directors like acclaimed French filmmaker and Palme d'Or winner Jacques Audiard (The Bureau), Christian Schwochow (The Crown, Bad Banks), Thomas Vincent (Versailles, Bodyguard, Borgia, Osmosis), Destiny Ekaragha (The End of the F***ing World), and Sílvia Quer (Elite).
Industry professionals set to discuss major changes in the series’ sector include Lars Blomgren (Endemol Shine Group), Carlo Dusi (Red Arrow International), Moreyba Bidessie (A+E), Christian Vesper (Fremantle), and Xavier Arestimuno (HBO LatAm), among others. They will discuss major themes such as:
- The concentration of large audio-visual groups on a European scale
- The role of distributors becoming super-producers
- The major trends such of series based on true facts
The international reach of Series Mania Forum is bigger than even before: official delegations from all the over the world will attend the event (Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Korea, Brazil). Country focus and Coming Next From sessions will give the participants the opportunity to discover upcoming shows from Korea, Latin America, Germany, Quebec, Finland, Central Europe and France. This year’s event will also include a number of companies outside of Europe who will be exhibiting for the first time. These companies include Globo (Brazil), Nippon TV (Japan), and TV3 and Premier Studios (Russia), among others.
On the broadcaster’s side, the Forum will host a masterclass, in association with Broadcast Intelligence, with Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama at Channel 4, one of the channels offering the most innovative and daring series in the world, while Anne Croneman and Nathalie Biancolli (France Télévisions) discuss the "acquimissions" phenomenon, a neologism created to underline the convergence between acquisitions and commissions.
These key events will be added to the previously announced program highlights, including the much-anticipated Co-Pro Pitching sessions, UGC Writers Campus, SeriesLAB, and the new Drama Series Co-Writing Residency between Israel and France. For more information on Series Forum, please visit: https://seriesmania.com/forum/en/
ABOUT SERIES MANIA
Created by Laurence Herszberg in 2010 in collaboration with artistic director Frederic Lavigne while both were at the Forum des images, the Series Mania Festival brings the best international series to the big screen and offers audiences (over 72,000 spectators in 2019) the rare opportunity to meet and learn from renowned showrunners, directors and television talent. Series Mania has developed into a unique event with wide recognition that is entirely dedicated to series, aimed at both the general public and industry professionals. For the 2020 edition, from March 20-28, the Festival will once again be held in the charming northern French city of Lille (Hauts-de-France). As usual, it will include a program of world premieres and series selected for competition, overseen by a prestigious international jury.
ABOUT SERIES MANIA FORUM
Launched in 2013, Series Mania Forum, the industry arm of the Series Mania Festival, has become the place to be for all those involved in the creation of series from around the world. In just a few years, Series Mania Forum has already seen many projects come to fruition, including Eden, Stella Blomkvist, Keeping Faith and Tabula Rasa, with many others currently in production. In 2019, the Forum held its second edition of Lille Transatlantic Dialogues, a one-day summit bringing together high-level political, corporate, creative and economic players from the TV and culture sectors in Europe and North America. With more than 3,000 registered professionals expected in 2020, the Forum (March 25-27) is now the place where industry talent and decision-makers meet to create the new generation of serial fiction.
